BRAC goes on record opposing St. George

The Baton Rouge Area Chamber announced its opposition to the proposed city of St. George this morning, citing concerns over questionable financial projections by incorporation organizers, the impact the proposed city would have on the city-parish budget and government, and a lack of information about where thousands of children in the proposed city would go to school. In a statement released this morning, BRAC says its board of directors voted to oppose the effort after evaluating the proposal “with an open mind. ” In 2014, BRAC opposed the first attempt to carve an independent city out of a relatively affluent unincorporated portion of southeast East Baton Rouge Parish because of concerns over the financial toll incorporation would take on the parish as a whole and its school system. Though the proposal this time around is somewhat different and the footprint of the proposed city is smaller, “BRAC has determined that all of the concerns spurred by the original proposal remain in the 2018 version of St. George, and the BRAC Board of Directors determined that the proposed city’s negatives outweigh any positives,” the statement reads. BRAC executives decline additional comment. A spokesman for St. George says BRAC’s statement comes as “no big surprise.” “The status quo has always been against us,” spokesman Drew Murrell says. “It doesn’t matter one bit to us or our supporters.” BRAC’s statement outlined several concerns. Specifically: The proponents’ projected sales tax revenue estimate of $53.4 million alone is overestimated by roughly $20 million, according to… [Read full story]